Willy will start for Winnipeg

Well, “Willy” or “will he not?” We now know the answer. Drew Willy will get the start at quarterback for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers when they host the Tiger-Cats tomorrow night in the ‘peg. Willy injured his throwing shoulder in a game against the B.C. Lions on September 13th. Willy has been one of the better quarterbacks in the CFL this season, second only to Ricky Ray in passing yardage. Former Tiger-Cat Brian Brohm would have got the start against his ex-teammates had Willy not been ready to go. But the Ticats were expecting to see Willy.

In the first meeting of the season between the teams, Willy tossed a TD pass to Nic Grigsby with no time left on the clock, and the extra point gave the Bombers a 27-26 win over the Cats. Of late, the teams have been heading in different directions. The Bombers are 1-5 in their last 6 games. The Ticats have won 3 of their last 4.

Ticats Quarterback Zach Collaros: “It’s gonna’ be tough, coming off a bye. They’ve lost some games as of late. They’re going to be excited. They have a great fan base so it’s going to be loud there for sure. Communication is going to be key for us.”

Ticats Receiver Andy Fantuz: “Last game came down to the wire — could have gone either way. I’m sure it’ll be a dogfight again. But we’re clicking a little better offensively. We seem to be putting more drives together. And our defence has been playing lights out lately.”

Head Coach Kent Austin: “We do understand the race that we’re in and the position that we’re in and our record. Don’t think that I don’t look forward on the schedule and go through the iterations of ‘if we do this and that and the other’ then we can secure first, second, third place whatever. Of course I do that. Do I share it with the team? No.”